Within 72 hours of the storm hitting, those parts of the subway
least affected by Sandy were fully operational. By the end of the
week, trains were back up and running between Manhattan and
Brooklyn and Queens.

How did he do it? He prepared.

Before the storm hit, Lhota shut down the subways early enough
that the MTA could move equipment to dry, safe ground and
position its three specialized pumping trains in strategic
locations. The MTA also took some preventative measures like
covering subway vents, placing sandbags at stations and creating
barriers at subway entrances.

Not everyone in the region displayed such foresight.
The New York Post's Michael Goodwin notes that
officials in Jersey made no such preparations and paid a
steep price. PATH train service from Hoboken is still suspended
and some New Jersey Transit lines have not been fully restored.

Another Lhota achievement: creating a makeshift subway service in
one of the most devastated neighborhood in the whole city, Far
Rockaways, Queens.

Flegenheimer reportedthat
Lhota secured 20 subway cars — 60 feet long and 80,000
pounds each — and loaded them onto flatbed trucks on the
mainland part of Queens. They were then driven over the Cross Bay
bridge and placed on rails. This special "H" train was able to
serve the more than 50,000 people living in Rockaways.

Mr. Lhota spent Monday night at a hotel in Midtown, near the
authority’s headquarters on Madison Avenue. He got in around 3
a.m. and returned to the office hours later. In between, he found
a deli open nearby. He ordered an omelet.

Lhota has only been in the job for a year, but his leadership
experience is extensive. Governor Andrew Cuomo plucked him from the Madison
Square Garden Co., where he was serving
as executive vice president for administration. He's also
served as the NYC commissioner of finance, and was the NYC deputy
mayor for operations under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as well as
budget director.